


What Is Wedlock Forced But A Hell

by Ambrose



Category: Romeo And Juliet - All Media Types, Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare
Genre: Angst, Arranged Marriages, M/M, but not the one you're hoping for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 19:14:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5017006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambrose/pseuds/Ambrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You what?"<br/>"I want you to be the best man at my wedding."</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Is Wedlock Forced But A Hell

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MercutioLives](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercutioLives/gifts).



> Reposting this old prompt fic from tumblr. Title is a quote from Henry VI.

“You  _what_?”

“I want you to be the best man at my wedding,” Tybalt repeated with a sigh.

“So I didn’t mishear this. It’s official, you’ve really gone crazy, my prince of cats!”

But Tybalt knew him too well, and it was evident that he was masking the hurt behind that flippant tone he usually took. He heard the possessive tone, and he knew, he’d known for a long time, everything that was unspoken between them.

“You’re the only one I trust to do this,” he admitted.

Mercutio grinned. “What, to lose the rings for you? Sure, I can do that!”

Tybalt tried to match his smile. “No, to help me get through this without breaking down or running away. To crack jokes that make me smile when I wanna punch everything. To fight with me at the end of the day and let me land a punch or two so I feel better.”

“Why? Why would I do that?” Mercutio gave him one of his manic smiles. “Why would I help you do the one thing that will – that will…”  _get between us_ , Tybalt could almost hear him think.

“Because you think I have a choice?”

Mercutio opened his mouth as if to argue, but he shut it just as quick, and simply stared at him.

“Look, I’m sorry, it’s selfish of me,” Tybalt went on, “but I need to know you’re with me, I need to know you won’t move on tomorrow and…”  _forget_. “It took us so much to get where we are, to, to where I can admit this, that I need you, and… I have no right to ask this of you, but please?”

It cost him a lot to say those words, like they were ripped out from his throat, but he could not, he refused to imagine what it’d be like if he had to live his whole life with a wife he could never love, away from Mercutio, having to pretend they were strangers or enemies again when they met in public. He did not know how that happened, but he knew he’d miss his sharp wits and taunts just as much as he used to hate them.

“I’ll think about it,” Mercutio snapped before he disappeared into the night, with an expression Tybalt couldn’t decipher.

Tybalt cursed himself for hoping he’d turn back, hoping he’d see him again at all; and yet he did not dare go after him. He tried to silence the voice that told him it would be so easy to pick a fight, get run into by a knife in some dark alley – he was braver than that, damn it! Capulets don’t give up, not so long as there is still a glimmer of hope. And he had to believe there was still one for them. If Mercutio could see him, he’d mock him for being over-dramatic and sappy, no doubt, but he could not help it.

 

But Mercutio did turn around and, hidden in the shadows of the garden, kept watch. Not daring enough to admit to Tybalt that he wanted nothing more than be there for him; not daring enough to walk away when he felt like crumbling down and never getting up. He should mock him, maybe – mock himself even more, for how pathetic he was – but he could not bring himself to it.  He wished he could do just that again, brush off these…  _feelings_  he had, leave him, poke fun at him – but no joke came to him; Tybalt’s pain resonated too strongly within him; he felt he would only hurt himself, like it hurt to watch him suffer now.  He would go back, eventually. He never could help it.

And what if others had doomed them to failure? What of that? Had he ever done what he was expected to?


End file.
